The disclosure Friday by Alibaba Pictures Group comes as its parent company readies for what's expected to be a mammoth initial public offering in New York next month.

Alibaba Pictures said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that a new management team found "certain possibly non-compliant treatment of financial information" in its accounting records. As a result, it is delaying the release of its first-half earnings.

The company said the accounting irregularities date to before Alibaba's purchase of the company.

The film company, previously known as ChinaVision Media Group, was acquired by Alibaba earlier this year for more than $800 million as part of its push into online content.